Instincts
by SilverSpiritWolf
Summary: Takes place after the movie. A lycantant's instincts are the very core to who they are, but is it just instincts that had Nova, a lycantant splice, saving Caine's life?


A wolfs instincts. Nova scoffed at the thought. It was those same instincts she had that was going to either get her into a whole mess of trouble or potentially killed. Who was she kidding they were sure to get her killed. Seriously who thought it was a smart idea to splice a human with the DNA of a lycantant? A lycantant needed a pack and nothing meant more to them then family.

She couldn't help but look down at the man lying on the hospital bed. She didn't know him. Not really. But when she caught his scent on the breeze, she abandoned her team and went after him. His scent is quite familiar to her, one Nova remembered quite well from infancy. It was also a scent she had smelled a few times over the years, on various different planets. His was a scent she was trained to ignore. But how can training force you to ignore that pure animal instinct? The one that has you doing everything in your power to help family.

She wanted to laugh at the idea. Family. It wasn't something she ever had. She did the best she could pretending her Legion team was her family, her pack, but she knew they weren't. She knew the team never could be. How could they ever fully trust a wild animal? And isn't that exactly what she was?

Nova sighed again to herself and allowed her fingers to dance over the short blonde hair of the unconscious man. She had gone through his things and discovered that his name was Caine. Seems her brother was treated as more of a dog then she was.

Caine groaned slightly and shifted on the hospital bed. She knew he wouldn't be out long, the fifteen minutes he was out already had seemed quite a lot. She couldn't fault him for it though really. As she pulled his scent deeper into her lungs, instinct and memory told her exactly which of her siblings Caine was. He had been the runt of the litter. Nova knew she herself was the second smallest in the litter, she was smaller now than Caine was.

Her fingers continued to dance, down the side of his face to the brand on the side of his neck, the one identical to hers. A rough hand grabbed at her fingers causing her to yelp and pull back in surprise. "Its ok Caine, I'm not here to hurt you." She tried whispering soothingly but his tight grip on her wrist caused her voice to falter.

"How do you know my name?" Caine growled showing teeth. Yep 100% lycantant this one.

"Oww ok I don't want to sound like a baby here, but Caine you're crushing my wrist." Nova said on a whine, trying to pull herself free.

Caine sat up on the bed, loosening his grip but not letting go. "Who are you?" He growled again. "What happened and where am I?"

"Ok seriously?" Nova growled in return, giving her wrist a sharp flick forcing him to let go. "I saved your sorry ass and this is how you want to treat me? Bare your teeth and growl at me one more time and I swear-"

"Oh I've never seen a lycantant pissing match before." A male voice said behind her.

Nova spun on her heel and eyed the newcomer. He was taller than she was, but most people seemed to be. He was older, a dusting of a beard covered his face. His splice brand clear on the side of his neck. He had an air of authority about him, not an Entitled surely, no splice in the 'verse was entitled. A commander of a Legionnaire team she was quite sure. She was concerned for her brother, but for some reason almost couldn't pull her eyes away from the newcomer.

"What's going on in here?" A female voice asked stepping around the male newcomer.

"I hadn't said it was safe yet your Majesty." The male stated.

Majesty? Nova wanted to question but kept her mouth shut. This day was quickly becoming one of the worst days of her life, and she already had a lot to compare it too. This was not going to end well for her.

"Stinger its fine." Her Majesty stated, stepping further around the male splice, before her eyes settled on Caine. "Oh my god Caine what happened?" She questioned rushing over to him, gently cradling his face in her palms.

"I'm fine Jupiter." Caine stated even as he nuzzled his face into her hands.

Nova stood and stared at the scene unfolding in front of her completely shell shocked. An Entitled and a Splice? Her mind worked frantically to pull the pieces together and make sense of what she was seeing. Jupiter, she had recently heard of that name but from where? It hit her like a ton of bricks, shit this was Queen Seraphi's recurrence? What the hell had she pulled herself into? Maybe if she was lucky she could slip out, no one seemed to be paying any attention to her.

"What happened?" Jupiter questioned, allowing her fingers to run through Caine's hair.

"I'm not entirely sure." Caine stated truthfully. "I was doing as ordered, following the leads trying to find who sabotaged your ship." Caine sighed deeply, obviously trying to remember what had happened. "I was…I was jumped by, damn I don't know how many guys."

"Ok but how did you end up here in the hospital?" Stinger asked.

Caine sat up a little more in the bed and fixed his eyes on Nova. "Her." He stated simply.

 _Shit_ Nova groaned. So much for hoping to make a quick and silent get away. Nova turned on her heel and glanced back at the small group who was staring at her. "Don't for one moment think I had anything to do with this." Nova growled. Damn it she saved his life and now of course she would get blamed for…what did he say? Sabotaging the Queen's ship? As if she wasn't going to be in enough trouble for saving Caine's ass as it was.

"Then why were you there?" Caine questioned.

Nova gave a heavy sigh. "You know I've heard stories about you." She focused her attention strictly on Caine. "The lycantant splice working for the Legion. Best tracker in the 'verse." She stated almost mockingly and nearly got a sort of thrill when Caine started growling again. "They said you could track a gene print anywhere." Caine was baring his teeth now, growling loudly. She knew he held pride in himself to being such a great tracker.

"That nose of yours seems pretty useless to me." That was it, the final taunt Nova needed. Caine was off the bed and on her in an instant, his hand wrapped firmly around her throat. He ignored the yells and cries from both Stinger and Jupiter as he held Nova pinned to a wall, her feet several inches off the floor.

"No one and I mean no one-" Caine started with a loud growl, but didn't get any further than that. Knowing scent heavily concentrated on the wrist, Nova placed hers up to his nose allowing him to breathe her in. His loud and angry growl quickly turned into a soft and pathetic whine. Loosening his grip Caine immediately slid the smaller woman down to the wall and back to solid ground.

Nova allowed her eyes to flick behind Caine to the two confused faces. "Sister?" Caine questioned nudging his forehead to Nova's.

"Took you long enough." Nova gave a half laugh trying her hardest to keep the burning tears at bay.

"Did he just say sister?" Jupiter looked over to Stinger for answers.

"Makes sense." Stinger replied, rubbing his hands down his face. "We already know Caine was the runt of his litter."

"He isn't the runt anymore." Jupiter stated, eyeing the height difference between the two lycantant splices. Caine was easily 7 to 8 inches taller the Nova. But looking at the two side by side now she wonders why she hadn't thought of it sooner. They both had the same blonde hair and blue green eyes, and of course the same ears. Maybe her worry for Caine's wellbeing just had her too preoccupied.

Jupiter was pulled from her thoughts when Stinger groaned loudly and pulled Nova closer by the arm, turning it slightly. "Ok ow, what is it with you guys and the rough treatment?" Nova grunted as Stinger continued to twist her upper arm around.

"You're Legionnaire?" Stinger questioned showing the tattoo to Jupiter that adorned Nova's left arm. It looked a lot like Caine's old tattoo before he became part of her royal guard and had it altered, although it was still different in its own way. "Where you with your team when he was attacked?" Nova simply lowered her eyes and looked away.

"Shit." Caine groaned as well.

"Yep dead girl walking." Nova stated simply.

"Wait I don't get what's going on." Jupiter said confused.

"She went AWOL." Stinger said releasing Nova's arm. "She abandoned her team when she caught the scent of Caine in trouble."

"Ok, but I still don't-" Jupiter started.

"I'm Legionnaire," Nova started. "Strict military. If I am lucky I will simply be killed for it."

Nova watched as the colored drained from Jupiter's face, the other woman looked like she was just moments away from getting sick all over the place.

"If you're lucky?" Jupiter nearly screeched. "What do you mean if you're lucky? What else would they do?"

Nova gave a half laugh. "Oh so very much. Anything they deemed as punishment for abandoning my team would not be frowned upon."

Caine's soft growling reached her ears and made her smile. Yeah that was her luck. Finding a family member and it being the cause of her death. She had found a few of her siblings in the past before sure, she had actually met up with most of them. But abandoning her team to do so? No this was the end for her now.

"Get me her contract." Jupiter said, her hand was over her stomach like she still might be ill. "I don't care what it costs, but you get me her contract from the Legionnaire"

"Wait…what?" Nova questioned beyond confused. "She can't do that? Can she?"

"She can." Stinger replied with a nod before turning and leaving, Nova's eyes were on his backside as he went.

"Why would you do this?" Nova asked turning her attention back to Jupiter she just didn't understand. Never in her life had she ever met anyone like Jupiter. Setting aside that not only was Jupiter an Entitled, she was the Queen. She most certainly shouldn't be someone who gave two shits about a splice like her.

"I get that you are a solider, and certain things are to be expected of you, but death or possibly torture for saving a family member? No I don't think so." She turned to Caine. "The more I learn about the universe, the less I like."

Nova allowed her eyes to bounce back and forth between her newly discovered brother and her Queen. A smile played on her lips as she took the scene in and took in more and more of the facts and evidence laid out before her. "Guess it helps that I saved your mates life hu?" Nova laughed.

Both Jupiter and Caine froze in place causing Nova to laugh even louder. The pair glanced at each other for a moment, faces equally red, both opening their mouths to say something but unable to find the words.

"Oh don't try denying it. Geez Caine, how many times have you bitten her?"

At that Jupiter's fingers flew to her throat, her fingers danced around. She hadn't thought the marks had been visible. She herself could still feel a slight sting where Caine had bitten, she could for days afterwards each time he did it. But as far as she knew…

"Don't worry it's not visible, it's more like a scent thing." Nova explained. "I may not have Caine's nose, but now that I have given you more than half a glance I notice it." Cautiously Nova stretched out her own fingers and allowed them to dance feather light down the column of Jupiter's throat smiling as Caine gave a half growl, one she knew Jupiter couldn't hear.

"Just a small piece of information. Sex is sex, it's great, it feels good, and it has a lot of health benefits." Again Nova allowed her eyes to travel between the two. "But a Lycantant NEVER marks a partner during sex, it is meant only as a bond between mates."

She turned and walked out of the hospital room, leaving the two with her bombshell of information. She didn't know what was in store for her anymore. A few minutes ago she was so certain that death would be waiting for her just around the corner. She had a new lease on life, sort of. Her majesty Queen Jupiter would soon hold her new lease on life. She couldn't help wondering what that meant.


End file.
